In this page, you will get to explore the mind, events and feelings of a Chun Jui... ok, fine, judging from the past 25 years, my life is far from what you call "eventful" (in fact, "dull" might the be more appropriate adjective) but I'll try to keep my entries interesting!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Sorry for the late update! As most of you know, things have been super busy and crazy for me since the last update because I had to start teaching. So first off the bat, I owe all of those who called me on the first day of school two weeks ago a BIG, heartfelt THANKS! :D It was very sweet of all of you to be so excited for me on the first day of the next, exciting chapter of my life as a teacher!
So, how did the first day go and how do I like it, you ask? Well, the first day was ok but let me tell you, it ain't easy being a teacher, especially a Primary teacher!! The kids don't listen, you have to repeat yourself MANY, MANY, MANY times and still, some won't listen or understand you, they are very dependent and needy and will come to you for EVERY little thing! Yes, it's a true test of one's patience and tolerance! I'd like to think of myself as a pretty patient person but even my patience was worn really, really thin by the middle of the first week! They take forever to do very menial tasks, i.e. taking more than half an hour to write their names on THREE notebooks. The first day they had to do Spelling work took THREE periods (each period is 40 minutes long) and all they had to do was TWO questions! :S arrrggghhhh.... Not to mention they're very annoying whining: "Ms. Nnnnnnnggggggggg, Ms. Nnnnngggggggg, I don't geeeeet iiiiiiit." Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
To be honest, by mid-week last week (yes, the second day into my teaching career), I was feeling a little scared because I didn't like teaching at that moment. It was scary because it had bee my lifelong dream to be a teacher. Everything I did was to get into teaching. But the kids were driving me crazy and their parents also drove me crazy. I was exhausted everyday after work and all I wanted to do was sleep when I came home. I realized that I was a very strict teacher (yes, I know a lot of you are shocked to hear that I can be strict but it's true!!) and I am very hard on the kids. I don't let anything slide. The theory is, train them hard now so they'll get used to the routine and my expectations and I won't have to work as hard in classroom management later. I still believe in that theory but man, it's DRAINING to be strict! I feel like a drill sargent and I don't like it at all. However, after talking to my other teacher friends and co-workers, all teachers hate the first month of the school year because it's hard work to get the kids settled and used to the routines and expectations. Apparently, and I'm optimistic (for now, at least!), it will get better and I will see the results. *sigh* I sure hope so.
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